The journey back felt unbearably long and suffocating.
Little Dong swam with all its strength through the deep sea, but a heavy shadow hung over the hearts of the creatures aboard.
Well... not all of them.
Only Poseidon and Little Dong were truly terrified.
Joy Boy was still as carefree as ever, barely thinking that far ahead. Ritter knew the future, and the quiet vice-captain trusted her captain completely.
So in the end, the entire burden of worry fell onto Poseidon alone.
The moment the familiar bubble coating of Fish-Man Island came back into view, what greeted them was not relief or celebration, but a battlefield waiting to erupt.
Which honestly made perfect sense.
The High Priest had already distrusted them from the beginning, and now they had outright abducted the princess. The only reason the island's forces had not charged at them immediately was because Ritter and Joy Boy were simply too powerful. Any direct clash would result in catastrophic losses.
Outside the massive protective bubble, High Priest Lakis personally led the elite guards of Ryugu Palace in full formation.
Even he had no confidence facing those two monsters.
Especially now that the princess had vanished under his watch.
Ever since Poseidon disappeared, regret had gnawed at him relentlessly. He blamed his own hesitation, believing he should have acted more decisively from the start.
Floating within the seawater, staff raised high, Lakis radiated powerful waves of energy.
And when he saw Ritter and Joy Boy emerging within the blood-red protective bubble, especially with the dark abyss behind them, the same abyss that felt like the source of all ill omens, the final trace of hesitation in his eyes disappeared.
This was it.
The exact scene from the prophecy.
A figure shrouded in crimson mist.
A being with the properties of rubber.
Returning from the direction of the deep-sea darkness that heralded destruction.
The image overlapped perfectly with the vision he had foreseen before Fish-Man Island's ruin.
The two scenes fused together before his eyes.
His conviction became absolute.
These outsiders were the fuse that would ignite disaster.
His prophecy had been correct all along.
Which meant the princess's prophecy must have been mistaken.
"Stop right there, bringers of calamity! You will not take another step into Fish-Man Island!"
The High Priest's voice thundered through the seawater with unwavering authority.
Inside the protective bubble, Mini Poseidon quickly asked Joy Boy to restore her to normal size.
"Mr. Joy Boy, please change me back. Let me explain everything to them."
Joy Boy scratched his head, stretched himself outward first to return to full size, then grabbed Poseidon and pulled.
He paused.
"Huh? Not long enough."
So he stretched his arm even farther before giving one final tug.
Pop!
Poseidon instantly returned to normal.
She hurried to the edge of the bubble and shouted anxiously toward the High Priest.
"High Priest! It's not like that! We found the real danger! There's a monster deep in the abyss! It's draining the life force of the entire island! Mr. Ritter and Mr. Joy Boy are helping us!"
Lakis looked at Poseidon with pain flashing through his eyes, but disappointment overwhelmed it.
"Princess, you are too naive!"
He pointed toward the dark trench behind them.
"Look at the direction they returned from! Look at the ominous power surrounding them! This is exactly how the prophecy begins! They are guiding destruction toward our homeland!"
The High Priest tightened his grip on the staff.
"I will never allow them to succeed! Please return to the island immediately, Princess! It is dangerous here!"
"No! Please listen to me..."
Poseidon desperately tried to explain.
Then Ritter's expression suddenly darkened.
He felt it clearly.
One of the blood mist chains he had left behind at the seal had just been shattered by the creature's corrosive power.
Which meant the crack in the seal had widened again.
"Damn it."
Ritter interrupted Poseidon immediately.
"We don't have time for this, kid."
His voice turned colder than ever before.
"That thing is breaking free faster than I expected. My seal won't hold much longer. Evacuation needs to start right now. Every second wasted here could cost thousands of lives!"
Poseidon stared at Ritter's grim expression.
She had never seen him this serious before.
Then she looked back at the High Priest, stubborn, resolute, absolutely convinced he was protecting the island.
Her heart twisted painfully.
On one side stood an undeniable catastrophe racing toward them.
On the other stood the man who had protected Fish-Man Island his entire life, beloved by the people, yet now impossibly stubborn.
She understood better than anyone that every decision Lakis had made before this had been correct.
But this time...
He had misunderstood everything.
What should she do?
How could she convince everyone?
How could she make them abandon their homes and board an unfinished Noah?
Then a bold thought appeared in her mind.
No.
More than bold.
Almost rebellious.
She could feel the terrifying strength standing behind her.
Slowly, Poseidon lifted her head and looked at Ritter and Joy Boy.
Tears filled her eyes, yet her voice carried unwavering determination.
"Mr. Ritter... Mr. Joy Boy..."
"Could you... pretend to be the villains?"
She trembled as she continued.
"Please force everyone onto Noah. You only need to drive them there."
It was the only solution she could think of.
If words could not convince them...
If prophecy had already become absolute truth...
Then let the prophecy come true in another way.
Let the "shadows of destruction" force the people toward the Ark of Hope.
Ritter froze for a moment.
Then an incredibly vicious grin slowly spread across his face.
A grin so wild it almost looked excited.
He cracked his neck as the blood mist around him exploded outward, releasing a pressure even more terrifying than before.
"Heh... of course we can."
His voice dripped with restrained madness.
"I've been putting up with that self-righteous old fossil for a long time already."
He turned toward Joy Boy, who was already stretching his arms excitedly despite clearly having no idea what was happening.
But it sounded fun.
"Rubber-head. Time to work."
Ritter pointed toward Fish-Man Island.
"Remember, scare them first. Don't actually hurt anyone. Our goal is to drive them toward Noah."
A savage grin widened on his face.
"So let's start wrecking things."
"Got it! Leave it to me!"
Joy Boy yanked his rubber arms backward enthusiastically, ready to launch himself.
The next instant, Ritter expanded the protective bubble.
Blood mist roared outward like a raging crimson dragon, flooding toward Lakis and the palace guards.
Joy Boy unleashed his powers completely, his body rapidly enlarging into a towering rubber giant.
Well... technically he was already a giant to begin with.
He swung his enormous arms toward Fish-Man Island's defenses in a dramatic "attack"...
Then suddenly his face turned purple.
Ritter stared at him in disbelief.
"You idiot. Don't stick your head outside the bubble! You can't swim, remember?"
Scratching his head helplessly, Ritter slapped an enormous blood-red bubble directly over Joy Boy's face.
Then the chaos truly began.
They started smashing through buildings and defenses.
Ritter had always looked down on Fish-Man Island's bubble barriers. Fragile things pretending to be durable.
Sure, the original story claimed the outer coating was incredibly tough.
But from Ritter's perspective, the structure was absurdly weak. It could not withstand real power at all.
That was why he reinforced everything with his own blood-colored bubbles first.
Meanwhile, beneath the assault of blood mist and the rubber giant, the High Priest roared desperately:
"Look, Princess! The prophecy is coming true! They've finally revealed their true nature!"
He commanded the guards to resist with everything they had.
But they were steadily driven backward, overwhelmed by the terrifying display, pushed inch by inch toward Noah's docking site.
Poseidon watched the chaos unfold, tears streaming down her face.
Yet her gaze remained firm.
This was the only way left to save everyone.
The shadow of destruction had indeed descended upon Fish-Man Island.
But it was not Ritter and Joy Boy.
The true disaster waited deep beneath the sea.
And the "villains" standing before them now were forcing hope into the hands of the people through the cruelest method possible.
A ridiculous play unfolded in the depths of the ocean.
The saviors became destroyers.
And somewhere in the abyss below, the true nightmare continued tearing itself free from its chains.
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